Translation methods certainly have changed over the years. As we know, translators in the 1500s and 1600s used a quill, ink, and paper to translate. Today, they use modern software platforms to complete their tasks. Translation software itself has evolved just within the past few years, from desktop-based software to cloud-based platforms. These cloud-based platforms allow for global teams to function together.

Another change that has arisen over the past few years is the use of crowdsourcing translation. Crowdsourcing is the outsourcing of work to others outside the company, usually volunteers. Since it is usually done with volunteer translators, they receive work in small chunks so that they can complete it quickly. The main benefit of using crowdsourced translators is speed. With many translators each translating small sections of the project, the project turnaround time is drastically decreased. Indeed, crowdsourcing is making an impact in the translation landscape since projects are being completed quicker overall. However, some project managers handling crowdsourced projects report that their users lose interest midway through the project. This is a difficult problem to curb due to the voluntary nature of crowdsourced translation. However, some companies, such as Facebook, have taken to requesting translations from their users. This has worked for the most part, with undoubtedly some translators losing interest in the project. One way to curb possible lackluster results is paid crowdsourced translations.

Yes, you heard right. PAID crowdsourced translations, which would remove the possibility of translators stalling and possibly not finishing their part of the project. Unlike translation agencies, which hire fulltime, professional translators, these crowdsourced paid translators would be able to decrease the turnaround time and work for corporations like Facebook and Twitter.

Don’t misunderstand me and think that there isn’t a need for normal fulltime, agency-paid translators. There definitely is, especially for more specialized, high-end projects, a demand for more specialized services. These translations are more for projects where time is of the essence and quality is not as essential.

In summary, translations have changed much over time, and have become much quicker due to improvements in technology and the crowdsourcing model. Even though the crowdsourcing model exists, it is still good to have traditional translators for more difficult projects. Such is modern translation.